BioMed Central to publish new journal Research Integrity and Peer Review

02 Apr 2015

One of the hot topics in science and academic publishing at the moment is peer review, and much work is going into research integrity and promoting good practice from all involved with research. In response, BioMed Central is pleased to announce the launch of a new open access journal Research Integrity and Peer Review, which will act as an academic forum where these discussions can take place.

All aspects of integrity in research publication will be covered by Research Integrity and Peer Review, including peer review, study reporting, and research and publication ethics. Particular consideration will be given to submissions that aim to address current controversies and limitations in the field and offer potential solutions.

The journal will be led by a team of academic experts and members of BioMed Central’s own in-house research integrity team. Editors-in-Chief will include Dr Elizabeth Wager, a publication consultant and visiting professor at the University of Split School of Medicine, Croatia, and Dr Iveta Simera, deputy director of the UK EQUATOR Centre, Centre for Statistics in Medicine at the University of Oxford.

Dr Stephanie Harriman and Dr Maria Kowalczuk, will also act as co-Editors-in-Chief. As BioMed Central’s Medical and Biology Editors, they cover all aspects of policy and ethical issues across BioMed Central’s journals, as well as carrying out research on peer review, and developing guidelines for the Committee On Publication Ethics.

Each co-Editor-in-Chief will head up their own section covering the following topics: Peer Review; Reporting and Research and Publication Ethics. The journal will operate under the open peer review model whereby all of the peer review reports will be published alongside the final article with each reviewer named.

Elizabeth Wager welcomed the new journal when she said: “Improving peer review is important for all researchers, not just journals and publishers; however, until now it has been hard to find a suitable place to publish studies that advance our understanding of this. Similarly, research on publication ethics doesn't always fit in either ethics or specialist journals. It is therefore exciting to be involved with launching Research Integrity and Peer Review to fill these gaps and provide a resource to support these vital areas of work."

Iveta Simera highlighted the need for this type of journal and said: "For many years research reporting has been hiding in a shadow of 'big' ethical problems such as scientific fraud or plagiarism. However, the growing need to synthesize and replicate studies has highlighted the crucial importance of accurate, complete and timely reporting of research studies. Despite this knowledge, many deficiencies exist. We have a moral imperative to act decisively and find the best possible ways to prevent these deficiencies on a global scale. The new Research Integrity and Peer Review journal provides an important platform for sharing findings about the effectiveness of interventions and other initiatives aimed at improving the reliability and usability of published literature. It is an extremely exciting and timely new venture."

Deborah Kahn, Executive Vice President for BioMed Central, explained why they were launching such a journal: “Peer review and reporting are fundamental to the practice of good science, so it is time that research in these areas were treated with the same level of rigour we expect in all other sciences. This journal will push these issues to the fore, to help shape future developments in research integrity, and improve standards across the field. Open access is particularly important for such a journal, to help disseminate the research as widely as possible, so that others can build on the evidence base being created.”

The journal will be launched at the world conference of 4th World Conference on Research Integrity, which will be held in Rio de Janeiro from May 31 to June 3, 2015.

1. BioMed Central is an STM (Science, Technology and Medicine) publisher which has pioneered the open access publishing model. All peer-reviewed research articles published by BioMed Central are made immediately and freely accessible online, and are licensed to allow redistribution and reuse. BioMed Central is part of Springer Science+Business Media, a leading global publisher in the STM sector.